This invention relates to a radial keratotomy knife and more particularly to a radial keratotomy knife having a depth gauge or guard mounted thereon.
Radial keratotomy knives normally consist of a handle having a surgical blade extending therefrom which is used to make a plurality of radially extending incisions in a patient's cornea. It is extremely important that the depth of the incisions be controlled and that all of the incisions have a uniform depth. In an effort to control the depth of the incision created by the radial keratotomy knives, a guard or depth gauge has been previously provided and the same is depicted in the drawings and identified as "Prior Art". In the prior art knife, the guard or depth gauge is quite narrow which results in the cornea being deformed as illustrated in FIG. 3. The deformation of the cornea as illustrated in FIG. 3 results in inaccurate incisions being created. Further, the opening formed in the guard of the prior art knife, through which the blade extends, is substantially greater than the thickness of the blade which can sometimes result in the cornea protruding upwardly through the opening which also results in non-uniform and inaccurate incisions being created.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an improved radial keratotomy knife.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved radial keratotomy knife having a flat guard or depth gauge provided thereon which has a sufficient length and width so as to achieve proper incisions.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved radial keratotomy knife including a guard having an elongated opening formed therein through which the knife blade extends with the width of the elongated opening being just slightly larger than the thickness of the knife blade to prevent the cornea from protruding upwardly therethrough during the surgical procedure.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.